My family moved to Alpharetta, Georgia when I was twelve. At that time (1970) it was a small rural town, 25 miles north of Atlanta. Moving there was something of a cultural shock to me. It took weeks before I could understand what most people were saying. At the time, Alpharetta was the southernmost point in Georgia where Georgia Mountain Dialect was spoken. There were great bluegrass bands around. And the countryside was filled with mysterious one-lane dirt roads dotted with the occasional unpainted wood house.
Since then, much has changed. Alpharetta and Roswell (the next town to the south) are suburban bedroom communities of Atlanta. They are highly developed and heavily populated, with expressways, shopping malls, and upscale gated subdivisions. But late this afternoon, while geocaching, I came upon an amazing, forgotten piece of the past. In what used to be the country between Roswell and Alpharetta, I hiked on abandoned roads and visited a cemetery that has been forgotten by most folks around there.
Based on the tombstones which are still legible, this was a McGinnis family cemetery. I went to school with McGinnises back in the day, and there is a McGinnis Ferry Road in the area. I wonder if any McGinnises still live in the area.
One of the amazing things about this experience today - as desolate as these pictures look, I could hear the traffic noise from the expressway (GA 400) very strongly the whole time.
Sounds like an interesting hike!
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